Perfection
by JoyfulFarah
Summary: Morgan, JJ, Emily and Reid are on a new case, discovering a twisted take on 'perfection' among the human race. Can they cope with the circumstances of the case?
1. Chapter 1

******Title:** P**erfection  
****Summary: **Morgan, JJ, Emily and Reid are on a new case, discovering a twisted take on 'perfection' among the human race. Can they cope with the circumstances of the case?  
**Author's Notes: **W**ith so many graceful thanks to PisceanPal123 for the beta read :) and I hope that you all enjoy this story after all, it is written for you!  
****Disclaimer:** This is a work of fiction. Sadly, the characters in this story are borrowed from the TV show 'Criminal Minds'.

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Thomas Williams glanced at his watch one more time, shivering as he hopped from one foot to another. He looked up, giving the sky a quick glance and quickly regretted it as his once dried face was now drenched.

With a sigh, he pulled his cap forward and upturned his coat collar as the freezing chill rushed through his body.

Even though little time had passed by, he looked at his watch again. He sighed again as he scanned the horizon for any signs of the BAU team. He did not blame them for being so late; after all, they would be travelling into the middle of nowhere.

He looked back, feeling alone in the darkness. His partner, Adam Alder, was in the house giving the crime scene another look over in case they had missed something.

Why was it that his partner got the easier job? He was always in the warm while he was left out in the freezing cold, waiting.

Thomas watched his breath turning into mist as his warm, moist breath hit the night air. Bored, he tried to create shapes and patterns, amusing himself for a short while before he heard the distant sounds of a growling car.

He grinned as he could see the car crawling, struggling through the falling rain. It was way too cold and too wet for the engine to haul the weight.

Licking his dried, cracked lips, he shouted out to Adam.

"Hey man! They've arrived, you can go home now, to your family."

With a goofy grin, Adam's face peered around the door. Thomas couldn't help but gasped at the deep chocolate brown eyes and the floppy hair that matched. Perfection.

"Really? You sure you will be okay?"

Adam really did not want to stay, but he felt as if he had to say something, letting his partner know that even though he wanted to be with his beautiful wife and their son, he was willing to stay if needed.

"I am sure. You go on, but could you just point out the way for the team so I don't have to get any more drenched?"

"Sure thing! You have a good night and I will see you Monday."

Thomas could not but help chuckled as Adam raced off with a skip in his step, happily pointing out the way for the BAU team and even shaking their hands.

From the doorway, he couldn't see what they looked like. It was too dark. Shadows loped over the figures. He had heard great things about them. He was on the phone with Jennifer Jareau and she told him that they would try their hardest to solve the crimes that haunted the small town. It would be a team of four, she told him, but it was more than enough.

As the rain came down even harder, Thomas turned around and went inside the old farm house, where the victim was waiting.

He flinched as the stink of the dead body greeted him. The old farmer's body was beaten. Dried blood surrounded the open wounds. His eyes had been scratched out and his hair ripped from his scalp.

He felt a shiver as he saw the writing on the wall, written in the man's blood.

**Perfection will make the world a better place.**

He could only assume that the killer went after a certain colour hair and eyes. He could barely see what it was the farmer features were before; blonde turning into grey? Blue eyed? Brown eyed? He would not know until they found a picture of the victim. This was the third killing in his town. They had all been like that, with the victim's hair either brutally dyed or torn out, their eyes hacked at. They had all been left in their houses for a while, nobody really knowing them and not bothering to check in until the smell got too hard to handle.

He gagged slightly as the smell entered his nose uninvited. He breathed out of his mouth, spitting out the vile taste. He had never been to a house when the body had been left for so long. A week, maybe two. He had been at scenes with fresh kills, and preferred them.

Thomas' head shot up when he heard footsteps. Stepping out of the chilling room, he prepared himself to greet the BAU team. He grinned as he was instantly met by Reid and Emily. He happily shook their hands. They were beautiful. Perfection. He couldn't wait to see the other two; they must be perfect too. The world was getting better, person by person.

He glanced around Emily and she stepped aside, letting him greet the rest of the team. Thomas' heart sank; how could this be? JJ's smiling face greeted him and Morgan held out a hand. Thomas gave them a small grin and a short wave which caused Morgan to drop his hand as if it was dead weight.

He walked down the hall, passing the room where the body was in the wait.

"Where are you going?" Morgan called out as he was sure that the stink was coming from the room on their right hand side. He held back the team and stepped in front of them, preparing for any signs of danger. He had a duty to his team, as Hotch was not there for them on this case.

Thomas winced at the sound of the black man's voice. How could somebody so imperfect have such a lulling voice? He was like a siren, pulling sailors to their death. "Basement. I think that's where the killer might have tortured the farmer."

Morgan saw the shivers that the policeman was trying to hold in. He would need to be extra careful from now on.

"Or would you rather seeing the victim first?"

Thomas turned around, looking Morgan straight in the eyes, asking him if he would like to push his luck. Morgan gave Emily a quick look of warning before nodding at Thomas to lead the way to the basement. As soon as Thomas turned his back on them, Morgan gave Reid and JJ a glare, telling them through unspoken words that they would need to be on the lookout for anything out of the ordinary. They nodded in response. Emily gave them a small smile, trying to insert some of the lightness back into the suddenly dark situation.

Reid had a bad feeling. He knew that this was only the calm before the storm. He gently pulled JJ back, not listening to her hushed, angry words as she was placed at the back. Less likely to be in danger. He felt his heart slowing its beat. He knew that he was too worried about the girl that he was secretly in love with. Reid could feel her aura surrounding him and her presence made him relaxed, yet painfully aware of what was happening.

Looking to the front, he could see Morgan tensing up as the officer held the door open, signalling that they should go first. He knew that Morgan would be fighting the urge to push the officer in so that he would go first. He also knew that Morgan did not want to read too much into Thomas' body language. He was tired and his mind might be clouded.

Morgan was fighting with himself. With a clench of his teeth, he allowed Emily to go in first before following her into the darkness. He looked back for a brief moment, checking that the others were following him. With a nod, Reid caught the warning signal and crept down the stairs carefully. His movements were controlled and his senses on high alert.

JJ stopped on the top, watching as the rest of the team crept down the stairs. She was not happy with the situation. Placing her hand on her hip where her gun laid in wait, she felt safer. Her head stopped spinning and her senses became clearer. She turned around, and took a slight step back as Thomas' stern face greeted her. He was a bit too close for her liking.

"Hi," mumbled JJ as she tried to squeeze her way around the gentleman, "I am not feeling so good, so if you do not mind, I am going to sit this out in the car."

As soon as she finished her sentence, Thomas' thoughts ran wild, as he was not expecting this to be so hard. He thought that lulling them into the basement would be easy. It was the tying them up that would be hard. The last straw was when Morgan called the blonde lady's name, asking if she was okay. With fury in Thomas' eyes, he pushed JJ. He watched her face change from controlled calm to fear as she fell backward and her body crashed into the sharp edges of the staircase.

Reid's head snapped up as he heard the noise. His breathing stopped and his heart speeded up as he saw JJ's bloodied body at the bottom. His heart screamed when moans escaped from her cracked lips. His feet still remained glued to the ground as Emily pushed him out of the way to tend to the younger woman while with a roar, Morgan ran up the stair only to be met by a door slammed in his face. Reid could hear Morgan shouting and pounding on the door and Emily hushed words as she applied pressure to a gaping wound on JJ's leg.

The calm before the storm was over.

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_Please Review!  
They give me a new high and keep me happy throughout the day. They are like chocolate but without the guilt! :) _


	2. Chapter 2

**Title: **Perfection.  
**Summary: **Morgan, JJ, Emily and Reid are on a new case, discovering a twisted take on 'perfection' among the human race. Can they cope with the circumstances of the case?  
**Author's Notes: **Sending out big thanks to **PisceanPal123** for being brilliant enough to beta this story :) also many thanks to the utterly wonderful reviewers, **tazlvr2001 **and **Paineverlasting**. You have put a smile on my face :)  
I would also like to thanks those who added my story to their favourite already.  
**Disclaimer**: This is a work of fiction. Sadly, the characters in this story are borrowed from the TV show 'Criminal Minds'.

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JJ was scared. Her fear only doubled when she heard Morgan's furious shout. She could sense the panic behind his words. She tried to keep in the moans when Emily pressed down on her leg wound. Her whole body ached, especially her right side, shooting from her leg to her ribs. Unable to cope with the pain, she rolled onto her left but Emily stopped her, easing her onto her back.

"Ouch." whispered JJ as she weakly grabbed hold of Emily's cold hand. "Painful." With feeble attempt, she tried pushed the hand away with little success as Emily continued to pressed down, trying to stop the blood from escaping.

"How is she?" ordered Morgan as he placed his hand on JJ's blood stained hair. Guilt was eating away inside him. He could have stopped this somehow. Be in the back of the line, or run faster to catch JJ before she even hit the first sharp stair. He mentally hit himself as he remembered being glued to the ground when he heard JJ's gasp as she began to fall. It sounded as if she could not believe that she was falling and nobody was there to catch her. He had failed.

"She got a nasty bump to the head so she will need to be woken up every couple of hours. I've finally slowed the bleeding to her leg. The rest are cuts and bruises."

"T … th … thanks." JJ struggled to get her words out as she gently placed her hand on Emily's, letting her know that she was doing well. Emily was new to the team and she was still trying to find her place in the close knit family. With no strength left to keep her eyes open, she let her eyelids fall. The last thing she heard was a short bicker between Morgan and Emily.

"Don't."

"But she took a hit to the head."

"Let her rest. Recover."

Hearing the sharp venom in Emily's voice, Morgan let his hands fall, no longer having the command to shake JJ awake. He turned back, looking at Reid. He had forgotten all about the young man in the mad panic of what had happened. Reid was standing, frozen, with different emotions flickering through his eyes. Morgan made eye contact, which was broken almost instantly as Reid was unable to hide his guilt over of what had happened. It should have been him on the ground. He pushed JJ to the back of the line. He may as well have been the one who gave her the shove down to the dark, damp basement.

Placing a hand on Emily's shoulder, letting her know that he would be right back, Morgan walked up to Reid, his face emotionless. He would not let Reid's guilt eat him up inside. It was nobody's fault but his own...and that bastard upstairs.

"Snap out of it." ordered Morgan as he was face to face with the young technician. He felt his shoulder becoming damp. He ignored the water that dripped down. The basement was dilapidated, and he suspected that there must be a broken pipe somewhere. Reid made no move. "Now."

With a slow turn of his head, Reid greeted Morgan's face with a sad smile, grateful that he was trying to help. However, he knew that but he would always have the feeling of shame, of having betrayed JJ. The one person that always tried to bring him into the world, never trying to challenge his knowledge of anything and everything. She was a friend, a person that he trusted and vice versa.

'_This is a start,' _thought Morgan, as Reid moved, feeling one emotion at a time, rather than all of them rushing together around his body. He was proud of the younger man. He had faced so much in his short life, but he still took it head on.

"Not your fault." Morgan kept his words short and simple, letting them sink into Reid's brain.

"I made her go behind me." Reid's words were so quiet that Morgan had to lean in to pick up what he said. With a sigh, Morgan shook his head in disbelief that Reid would even think that. For a genius, he could be a bit stupid sometimes.

"You didn't know. It was not to be expected." Morgan used a strong tone in his voice, letting his power wash over Reid.

Reid struggled with his inner self. Some part of him knew that Morgan was right, but he still felt guilty about the whole situation, especially as he kept catching glimpses of Emily whispering words and rearranging JJ's sticky hair as it kept falling into her face.

"Yes." Reid gave a short reply.

It wasn't what Morgan wanted, but he would take what he could. With a small smile, he patted Reid on the back and walked back over to Emily, hopeful that he would soon follow.

As Emily looked up, she gave both of the men a look as they hung back, unsure of how to react to the situation. She signalled at them to come closer, grateful for company.

"Hey, JJ?" whispered Emily as she gently tapped the blonde on her shoulder. "You've got visitors."

Jennifer groaned, and tried to, with no success, swat Emily's hand away. This only made the three chuckled in relief. "Hey."

Emily's relief fled when she noticed the expression change in JJ's face, "What's wrong?"

JJ looked at Emily straight in the eyes, "The ceiling is dirty." As soon as the words came out, JJ couldn't stop the painful laughter from escaping. She grinned, trying to make the atmosphere lighter, which seemed to work as the smiles on her colleagues' faces had gotten bigger and brighter.

Emily just let a relieved grin spread across her lips, which only widened when Morgan joked that he would have to clean it later. She looked at Reid, grateful that he, too, was smiling, but concern clouded the graces of her features as she noted that the smile did not quite reached his eyes. His eyes were dead, with flecks of guilt and shame. She wanted to shake the feelings out of him, and force feed him some hearty feelings.

With a jump, Emily reached forward to help JJ into a sitting position, the blonde no longer wanting to feel like a victim. "Don't you think you are trying too much too soon?" she asked. JJ only shook her head in reply. Emily could see that JJ's leg was bothering her, obvious in the way that she clutched her thigh as if to stop the pain from spreading, as well as the accompanying outbursts of pain-filled moans as her wound screamed and ran all around her body.

Seeing that she was struggling to stay upright, Emily shifted so that she sat behind JJ, acting as a wall. Not wanting to feel helpless, Morgan took the duty to look around the room, trying to find a way out. He ordered Reid to change the makeshift bandage on JJ's leg first.

Reid crossed his eyebrows in confusion and worry. He of course knew how to change a bandage, even if only by readings in one of the many medical books that he had read, but he had never actually put the words into actions. Directing a pleasing look to Emily for help, he ended up only to sigh in frustration as she gave him a small smile in return.

Before the courage disappeared, he squeezed JJ's hand, saying sorry without words in advance. With shaking hands, he ripped the bottom of his shirt. It was his favourite, too, but it wasn't as important as JJ, not even by half. He gasped slightly as the cold air hit his torso. With a shiver in his spine, he slowly removed the blood soaked jacket that Emily had donated to the cause. Blocking out the pain filled sounds that JJ could not stop from escaping, he looked at the wound. He winced at the sight of the bloodied, crusted leg, but at least it had stopped bleeding. It was just an angry looking beast with no power left inside.

With care in his touch, he wrapped the now useless shirt around JJ's leg, ensuring that it was tight, helping with the battle to keep the bleeding at bay. He shivered once again when the cold air enveloped him.

"You okay?"

Reid gave a small smile, "Shouldn't I be asking you that?" He couldn't tear his gaze away from the sticky, dark hair. He wasn't used to any different colour apart from blonde on her head.

"I am as fine as I can be. Just a little bit sore, but nothing that painkillers can't cure when we get out of this hellhole." she responded. She gave a smile, allowing the lie to wash over Reid. She instantly mentally scolded herself, as she felt tension in the air. She painfully looked at Morgan; he was still pacing the room like a caged tiger. Wanting, needing to be free.

"Morgan, any plans?" asked Emily as she carefully arranged JJ, her leg screaming with numbness. She knew this was nothing compared to how JJ's must be feeling.

"Well, there is a window back there. I won't fit but you or Reid might be able to. You can go and get some help."

"I'll do it." Reid jumped in. He wanted to be of some use, to actually to be of some of worth. He knew that Emily would do a better job, getting away at a fast pace and to be hidden. He, however, do not want to be in control of JJ's safety - he would only hurt her more.

The two profilers exchanged a look, talking to each other silently. Emily gave a nod. Morgan slowly agreed.

"Okay. Let go."

Reid scrambled to his feet, clumsily squeezed JJ's hand, telling her that he would be back soon, with help.

"Be careful." she told him, Reid only nodded - he couldn't say anything back. Otherwise the tears would escape.

Reid walked off, with a mission in his mind. To get help.

He didn't turn around when he heard gasps. Thinking it was only pain making itself known to JJ's body.

He didn't turn around when he heard footsteps coming up behind him, thinking it was only Morgan coming to help him up to the window.

He didn't turn around when he heard heavy breathing, thinking it was once again Morgan, holding in his emotions. He thought he was doing the older man a favour by pretending that he never heard the deep, guilty breaths.

He turned around when he felt a heavy hand landing on his shoulder.

He came face to face with his newfound enemy.

"Going somewhere, boy?" drawled Thomas Williams.

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_Please Review!  
I love getting the reviews, they put a spring in my steps. _


	3. Chapter 3

**Title: **Perfection.  
**Summary: **Morgan, JJ, Emily and Reid are on a new case, discovering a twisted take on 'perfection' among the human race. Can they cope with the circumstances of the case?  
**Author's Notes: **The first thank goes to **PisceanPal123** for giving up her time to beta this story. Thank-you to the utterly wonderful **Paineverlasting **for taking the time to review the previous chapter.  
Although, I must say I found it a bit sad that nobody else reviewed :( as to me the reviews really does make writing this story worthwhile.  
**Disclaimer: **This is a work of fiction. Sadly, the characters in this story are borrowed from the TV show 'Criminal Minds'.

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Morgan had never been more angry than at that moment. Maybe not since the time Garcia was shot. The rage bubbled up inside of him, fighting and screaming to get out. He could feel it travelling to his hands, his fists itching to lash out at Thomas. He clenched his teeth as the villain roughly pulled Emily to her feet, forcing her to leave Jennifer.

Morgan scrambled to his knee when Thomas signalled Reid to tie Emily up against the far wall. Reid just stared at the gun and with shakes in his hands, he gently tied Emily to the pipe. Tears ran down the genius' face when he was screamed at to tighten the knots until the woman's wrists turned red. He unwilling held his hands out. He refused the first time, but when the gun turned onto JJ, he sobbed and gave up the fight to remain untied.

Morgan let out his rage through his voice, screaming and yelling, spitting in anger when Thomas pulled JJ up and forced her to walk to the middle of the room. Jennifer stumbled, losing her footing, and went crashing down, only to be hauled up seconds later by Thomas.

This time, he didn't lose his grip. Without warning, he dropped JJ like a discarded litter, chuckling slightly as the team yelled abuse. They were useless. Brave, but nevertheless, useless.

Thomas gave the rest of the team a quick glance before heading toward the stairs. He was satisfied when he was greeted with furious faces, and hands tied behind him. He couldn't help but give himself an invisible pat on the back as he reminded himself that he took the team down single handed. He signalled Morgan first, taking him by surprise as he slapped on his handcuff and pulled him to the pipe on the end of the room. He silenced Emily by pointing the gun at Reid, and then with a skip in his step, quietly but quickly, he slapped down his hand onto the young man's shoulder. Thomas had to hold down a chuckle when he saw the horror on their faces. Didn't they know that he was highly skilled in being invisible, hidden until he didn't want to be?

He made a quick trip up the stairs, only to return seconds later with a bag. His lifeline. He let it drop by JJ. Grinning at her, he grabbed her hands and placed them over her head. He ignored both the pain filled groans and the angry shouts as he pulled out a rope with his free hand.

Without warning, JJ pulled her knee up, bruising him where it would hurt the most. Thomas gasped but with an amused laugh, he winked at JJ.

"Nice try! I like to see a fight in my women." he purred as he threw the rope up, catching the beam.

"G ... g ... go to ... hell." rasped JJ as she tried to fight against being tied.

"Can't you see?" asked Thomas, "Sweetheart. We are already in hell." He pulled the rope, silently marvelling over the way that it worked so well at pulling the blonde woman up. Standing with the rope in his hand, he crossed his eyebrows in confusion.

"Huh." he mused, "that did not work out so well." With that, he let the rope slipped without a warning, causing JJ to fall into a heap with muffled screams of pain.

"What did you do that for?" roared Morgan as he pulled against the metal, not caring about the wounds that were occurring as a result.

"I had nothing to tie the rope up with. You can't expect me to stand there all day, holding her up now, can you?" replied Thomas. He looked up and saw that the rope was still wrapped around the beam.

With a grin, he jumped and grabbed it. Leaving it within an easy reach, he happily walked over to Morgan. Sometimes, he couldn't believe how clever he could be.

Without a word, he pulled out his gun, keeping it pointed at the now asleep woman. With his free hand, he let Morgan go, but kept the cuff on one hand. With a nod, he signalled Morgan to go over to where JJ was. Morgan gladly walked to the woman, gently touching her, fighting back the guilt, keeping it from overwhelming him.

"Put your hands out in front of you." Thomas ordered. When Morgan didn't move, he turned the safety off. "Do it."

Thomas smiled happily with the power that he now had as he pulled the rope up, hastily waking Jennifer up. He tightly tied the handcuff to the rope. He knew that the sailing classes he had taken earlier in life would come in handy someday.

He giggled as Morgan raised his hand higher and stood up straighter so that JJ was resting on her knees. The things that they would do for each other.

With all the worry disappearing that he would never be able to tie them up, he gave them a wave goodbye. He needed to sleep, have a well earned rest. He would have a busy day tomorrow.

"See you tomorrow, children." grinned Thomas, "Sleep well, tomorrow will be a brand new day. A new day of making this world less like a hell and more like a heaven. Perfection."

With the sound of the door slamming and the clicks of the locks, Emily burst into action.

"Morgan!" she loudly whispered, "JJ! Are you okay?"

"Fine." panted Morgan, "Just fine." He was struggling, his arms shaking with dull ache and his calves screaming at being kept in a position that they were not used to for so long. He would not give up. JJ seemed more rested on her knees - although he knew that it would be worse on her injured leg, but he couldn't bear seeing her constantly lose her balance when she was on her own two feet.

"What about you guys?"

"Nothing we can't live through." Emily responded, giving up the battle of trying to escape of the tight bonds when Reid told her to stop. He told her to look at the damage she was causing. She did not even feel the pain until she acknowledged it, the blood running down to her elbows and creating small drops of blood around her. She gave Reid a weak smile but he only hung his head, unable to look at her.

Reid had failed his mission. The one thing that the two senior members of the team had trusted him with and he failed. He went down without much of a fight. He helped the enemy by tying up one of his friends, his family. He was a failure. Twice over. Failing to protect JJ and then failing to get out, get help.

"We need a plan." mused Morgan. He needed something to get his mind off the shaking of his arms and the dull aches that were not dull anymore, but searing.

"If one of us could get untied, we could ambush him. I don't think he'd be expecting it." Emily couldn't come up with a better plan. She was frankly lost.

"What about the gun?"

"We can only count on the element of surprise, maybe the safety will be on." Emily paused. "It's our only chance, Morgan. It's JJ's only chance."

Emily's words hit home. Everybody in that room knew that it was not looking good for her. With her leg bleeding again, creating a small puddle on the floor, it was only a matter of time before her blood loss resulted in more serious consequences. Morgan had to stop the bile from climbing up his throat when the blood reached his shoes. He never felt sick at the crime scenes, even at the worst ones, but it seemed that seeing a member of his 'family' bleeding was a different story.

"I ... I am g ... go ...good." JJ spit out. Her head was spinning but she managed to open her eyes. She held her glance with Morgan, letting her words sink inside of him before giving a smile to the other two. She fell to her side, her leg screaming for her to release pressure. She winced as more blood escaped and Morgan was thrown off balance causing her to be lifted up for a brief moment before landing hard.

"Sorry." cried Morgan. His anger was slowly disappearing, fear replacing it. He hadn't felt that emotion so strongly in such a long time. He didn't like the feeling of it. Of feeling so helpless.

"It's okay." JJ gasped as she struggled to get into a position that hurt the least. Unable to find one, she slipped to the floor, no longer caring how Morgan might be faring. She just wanted to sleep.

Panic rose in the room. The three voices merged together to create a shouting, begging match to stop her eyes from closing. Morgan tried to pull on the rope gently but she just mumbled.

The room fell silent when the door swung open to reveal Thomas with a cloth. Chloroform.

"Too loud." he explained, "much too loud." With easy, soft movements, he glided over to Emily and Reid, knocking them out easily. They didn't struggle much, knowing that he wouldn't go down without a fight, a fight they were in no position to give.

Morgan, however, tried. He turned his head away, not wanting to fall to the floor, causing the woman to stand limply. He was simply heavier.

"I will be quiet."

"Sleep. Tomorrow is a new day. A day to start again." With great force, that Morgan did not know that the man had, Thomas covered his mouth and nose with the cloth. Morgan could feel the darkness lulling him. He stumbled but regained his balance. "I am sorry, JJ," were his last thought before he allowed his body to shut down.

Thomas looked at them, shaking his head at the sight of Jennifer's leg. He pulled out a clean cloth of his picket and neatly tightened it around the leg, slowing the bleeding. He grinned. He couldn't believe that he was so clever, capturing these people and then stopped from one of them dying too early.

Pleased with the scene, he walked up the steps. Silence. Thomas liked it.

With a small smile on his face, he whispered, "Good night. See you in the morning, at first light."

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_Please Review!  
They are brilliant for uplifting the spirit ... and the ego :D _


	4. Chapter 4

**Title: **Perfection**.  
Summary: ****Morgan, JJ, Emily and Reid are on a new case, discovering a twisted take on 'perfection' among the human race. Can they cope with the circumstances of the case?  
Author's Notes: **Super thanks to** PisceanPal123 **for being a beta reader for this story. I would also like to give some of my thanks to the brilliant reviewers, **foxyfeline** and especially the loyal one, **Paineverlasting**, for taking the time to let me know what their thoughts are. :D Oh and I totally forgotten for the last chapters and I am sorry but Readers, thanks for reading but do please review! :D**  
Disclaimer: **This is a work of fiction. Sadly, the characters in this story are borrowed from the TV show 'Criminal Minds'.

**

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"Good morning, my little crime kids!" Thomas skipped down the stairs like a child finding his friend during a game of hide and seek.

He received no response, and he frowned. He was not impressed with the politeness of the team. First they found the nerve to be careful around him and not trust him, and now this? With rage building up inside him, he stormed over to the blonde woman.

With no second warning, he grabbed hold of the hair and pulled her up. Her muffled screams woke the others up. With a chilling smile he let go, but Morgan was prepared, ensuring that she had a soft fall.

Morgan was not happy. How was it that he was asleep for that long? He cursed the bastard. He must have given them too high a dose. Emily seemed to have had the worst of it, being a light weight as well as being the first to receive the dose. Her eyes were furiously blinking, but she was still so tired. Morgan could tell that she was trying to help, trying to do something, but her body wasn't answering to the orders she gave to it.

"What do you want?" demanded Morgan. He was getting furious with the feeling of guilt and fear rushing around his body. He wasn't aware of it when it was in small dosages at the crime scenes, but now it was numbing his senses and confusing his judgement of the situation. He didn't like the fact that he was in major control of four lives. He thanked fate that he wasn't the team leader. Hotch had got that role.

He didn't think he could cope with the pressure, although he did try to keep it together in front of the rest of the world. When he was alone, he would cried, shoving his own face into a pillow, muffling his screams and sobs. Afterwards, he would wash the pillow cases, and at the same time, his feelings over the events of that day. It didn't always work. Sometimes, a crime scene would manage to hold on, burrowing into his memories, eating the good ones and plaguing his dreams. Screams and tears would not allow him to forget this feeling of helplessness. It would dull the pain for the while but it would change him forever. If he got out alive.

"Perfection."

Morgan only creased his eyebrows in confusion. Thomas laughed.

"Don't you see? Brown hair, brown eyes. That is perfect. White skin too? Perfection. Your two friends over there are brilliant! Just look at them, look."

"Nobody's perfect."

"Then those two over there and I must be nobodies." Thomas chuckled. He liked this, teaching others the errors of their way.

"Let them go, and JJ too." Morgan had to hold back his need to beg the man to let his team members go. He didn't care what happened to himself, but he would not have others being injured any further. Especially when he was the one that said that the four of them would be more than enough. That it would be an easy case.

"No. We need to sort out you and her," spat Thomas, "you need to learn how to make perfection."

"By killing?"

"The victims in this town were weak. They weren't willing to accept the change. I tried to help them to achieve perfection but they just refused so I left them." He walked over to Emily and Reid. His mouth twitched into a small smile as they shrink away as he waved the knife around. _'Time for a game...'_ and with that thought, he brought the knife up in the air, aiming at Reid.

"Don't hurt them!" yelled Morgan, "you said so yourself, they are perfect."

Thomas simply turned around and with a wild laugh, he thurst the weapon downward. Reid squeezed his eyes shut, not wanting to see the knife coming. Instead the weapon cut the rope, freeing Reid and Emily from each other. Slightly sickened out by the blood, Thomas cut Emily's bonds before moving onto Reid's. They remained seated, unsure of what was happening. It seemed too easy, to be freed this way. Reid did not expected this at all. He had mentally prepared himself for all sorts of scenarios, but not this one.

"You won't escape."

Emily opened her mouth but then closed it again. Like Reid, she was beyond confusion. They had never covered this in training.

"Just look at his wrist, and hers too." Thomas put his hands into his pockets and pulled out a small device, "all I have to do is to press this button, and you are both dead. Ha. Did you really think that I let a chance pass me by when you were asleep? Seriously?"

With shock, Morgan looked at his wrist. He hadn't felt the added pressure of the bracelet.

"I used to be a bomb technician, but then I, 'accidently', blew up a bus full of people. They couldn't prove it. So I changed my name and somehow got onto the police force. Not a very good system, it is?"

"They wouldn't have accepted you." Reid refused to believe that the police had made an error as large as this, especially with a job that helps people in so many ways and forms.

"Look at where we are. Middle of nowhere. It's not as if they really care about who get in the force. Besides, I passed all the tests with flying colours. One of the best, me." Thomas gave Reid a grin, getting a frown in return. "Cheer up. I am trying to help."

"This isn't helping." Emily snapped. She was getting furious with the fact that he had managed to worm his way into the police, betraying people's trust. With her emotions under control, she had mastered the arts of hiding her feelings from her mother, she tended to JJ's leg. She was slightly shocked at the fact that Thomas must have changed the bandage, resulting in slowing the bleeding almost to a stop.

"Right-oh then." Thomas bounced into life and strolled over to the four. He allowed them to 'sneak' by so that he didn't have to order them around so much. "Let's get to work. Who is first?"

"I'll go first."

Thomas stopped in his tracks. How brave! His response was so fast, so instant. He didn't think that even a second passed by. "Morgan, right?" without bothering for a response, he continued, "you are going to go first, but now I need a helper."

Emily glanced at Reid. She could see the visible shakes that he was trying to hide. With a slight hesitation, she volunteered, resulting in a bright beam from Thomas.

"Right. I will teach you how to achieve perfection." Thomas explained while he cut down the bond, causing JJ to fall limply into Reid's waiting arms. Morgan's knees buckled, not used to the changed position. Emily steadied him, and for the first time in a long time, a tear silently ran down her cheek.

"Eyes or skin?" Thomas thought he was being very polite in letting his victim having the first choice of stepping toward perfection. He loved that word. Perfection. It rolled neatly off his tongue.

Morgan gasped. It was now becoming very real. Holding in the second gasp, he briefly smiled at Emily, letting her know that he trusted her, whatever happened.

"Skin." His voice was powerful, his decision final. Emily looked away from his eyes. She hated this.

Leaving the two together, Thomas dragged his bag back. Stealing a few glances at them as he rummaged through the bag. He lightly smiled. It was very touching, the way that they were having a conversion with unspoken words. He let out a short, loud bark of laughter as he found what he wanted. A scrubber.

With a neat throw, the object flew into Emily's hands. "Start with the leg. Rub."

For the second time since she was captured, she was speechless. She lightly shook her head, not wanting to hurt her teammate purposely.

She gave a small sob when Morgan placed a hand on her arm, signalling that it was okay. He had already forgiven her, before it had even started.

Shooting an evil glance at Thomas, she squeezed Morgan's hand and moved down. She could feel Reid's glance on her back, hear JJ's shallow breathing, smell the sweat in the air, and see Thomas removing the shoes and rolling up the trouser legs. Calming her breathing, she gently rubbed his left shin.

Thomas grinned. Satisfied that she would continue to do it, to get it over with as quickly as possible, he walked to the other couple in the room.

"Wake her up. It's your turn," ordered the older man, "Do it now."

"I don't want to." Reid stiffened, not knowing how he had managed to build up the courage to stand up against his captor. Maybe it was because he knew that JJ was in enough pain. Maybe it was because he was afraid he would have to hurt her again.

Red filled up Thomas's face. He couldn't believe it. "Don't make me do it." Reid looked up, meeting his eyes. By seeing the rage in Thomas's eyes, Reid knew that he would not be gentle with the task of waking the woman up.

"Jayje." whispered Reid as he gently sat her up and started drawing a circle around her back, "wake up." She made a slight movement but didn't stir. "Please."

That seemed to be the trigger as JJ muttered and her eyes slowly fluttered open.

"Reid?" JJ felt sick. Everywhere ached and her leg screamed, sending a dull throbbing around her body.

"I am here. I am right here." Reid whispered, "I won't leave you."

"Aw, this is all very touching, and I will let you two have your little moment while I go and fetch the bag. I will be right back."

With the last word, Thomas smirked and turned on his heel, heading toward Emily, but the smirk slowly turned into a scowl as he could see that the scrubber was not being used.

"What the hell are you doing?" Thomas was now in a rage, Emily has stopped scrubbing and there wasn't even much of a mark. Seeing only red rage, he backslapped Emily, causing Morgan to yell and rush to her aid, knowing that if he charged at Thomas, he would put everyone in more danger.

Thomas opened his mouth to warn Morgan off Emily but his angry words didn't even have a chance to come out as the doorbell went off.

"Shit."

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_Please Review!  
__They gives me the courage to carry on with the writing :) _


	5. Chapter 5

**Title: **Perfection**.  
Summary: ****Morgan, JJ, Emily and Reid are on a new case, discovering a twisted take on 'perfection' among the human race. Can they cope with the circumstances of the case?  
Author's Notes: **HUGE thanks to **PisceanPal123 **for being a magnificent beta reader for this story, thank-you :) Also thank you very, very, very much so to the splendorous loyal reviewer, **Paineverlasting****, ****this chapter is for you :). Final thanks goes to the readers. Thank you. I hope you are still enjoying the story :)  
Disclaimer: **This is a work of fiction. Sadly, the characters in this story are borrowed from the TV show 'Criminal Minds'.

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**Thomas breathed in, calming himself in the process, regaining his thoughts and plan. He whipped around and gave no words, instead he simply held up the hand device, trusting that it would do all of the talking. 'Move, Scream or even do anything, you die.'

Giving Morgan a strong, short glance, he gave him a second warning. 'It will be your fault if I press the button. Only yours.'

Thomas knew that the silent words would be heard, taken in and understood.

Pleased that there should be no trouble with his guests, he took two steps at the time and locked he door behind him. He sighed once again before yelling, "Hang on! I'm coming!" Within a second, he was at the door, opening it to find Hotch and Gideon.

"Hello sir. I am SSA Aaron Hotchner and this is SSA Jason Gideon . The rest of our team should have arrived yesterday morning, but we haven't heard from them so we just wanted to check in." Hotch explained the situation to the police officer, while at the same time, he tried to read the body signals that Thomas was giving out, but he was silent, still.

"I am afraid that I haven't seen them since last night. They went for a walk, so I came here to check up too. In fact, I have only been here for about five minutes before you." replied Thomas with ease. He held in a small smile as he watched the two gentlemen exchanging a look between them. He could see that they were agreeing to go and look for the rest of their team.

"Right. Thanks. Would you mind if we came in and had a look as well?"

"There is nothing here." was the short reply. His words had an edge to them, warning the men that they were not to come in. It never went unnoticed by the trained men.

With suspicion in their eyes, they gave Thomas a short nod before backing out of the porch. Thomas didn't watch them go. Instead he slammed the door, and as soon as he heard the thunk of their vehicle door closing, he sighed. It didn't go as well as he had hoped. He would have to wait for a while before he headed toward the basement.

Realising that he hadn't had breakfast yet, he decided to see what tragedy food the victim had in his kitchen.

Meanwhile, outside the house Hotch and Gideon was discussing their course of action. They both wanted to get inside the house, knowing something wasn't right there, but they couldn't agree on how to do it.

"Let's just break down the door and we will go from there." Hotch suggested, concern for his team creating a fire in his eyes.

Gideon thought about that for a second before pulling out his gun as the answer. "Let's do it."

With ease and carefulness, they went to the door. With Gideon on standby, Hotch tried the doorknob. Giving a tiny smile and a nod, he signalled that he would open the door and they were to enter quietly.

With a quick turn, the door swung open, Thomas was standing in the hallway like a deer caught in the hunter's car headlight. His finger was holding the trigger.

Without warning, an echo of a screaming bounced off the walls in the house and moments later, two short explosions were heard. Not able to wait any longer, Hotch ran down to the source of sound while Gideon tackled Thomas to the ground.

Never had he felt like this before, Hotch decided. A mixture of fear, worry and helplessness were all his mind could process. He had felt this way before, but not at this level. It was so high that he almost forgot all of his training. His fingers struggled to hold the gun and his feet stumbled, unsure of how to react. His senses had to be told again and again to not focus on the rest of the team, but to be also aware of any possible dangers. He just wanted to get there, and even though he did not go to church, he sent a prayer to the higher being, hoping that they would all be alright.

His heart jumped, stopping for a moment. His lungs took in a great breath of air. They were alive. Bruised and battered, but breathing. They were huddled to the right side of the basement. The left side wall was blackened and cracked. Evidence of a small explosion or two.

With speed and a smile plastered on his face, he walked to the group. The smile slowly die as he took in the blood and the emotions on the faces. They were not okay. Not fully. Hitting himself mentally, he sprang into action, ensuring that his shocked team were sitting comfortably. He took notes of the wounds, Reid's wrists, head and a stomach wound, Emily's wrists, especially the right one, and a cheek injury, Morgan's wrists, knee and his right side of face, JJ's ... the only place where he could see that was uninjured were her haunted eyes.

Hotch screamed down at his phone to get some medical help. He couldn't stop the high level of noise that came out of his mouth. He was no longer in control. His sprit had been broken.

It was not long before Gideon came down the stairs. His expression soon too turned blank. Emotionless. He checked each member thoroughly, applying pressure where it was needed. He snapped Hotch out of his trance and ordered him to tend to Emily's right arm. Grateful for something to do, he eagerly did what he was told, even if he was meant relinquishing his right to leadership to Gideon. He was glad not to be leader at this moment He would have to thank Gideon later.

"Hey." Hotch spoke softly to Emily. She smiled, slowly recovering from the shock of the explosion and finally realizing who was with her.

"What took you so long?" Emily couldn't stop the words from tumbling out. She instantly regretted them. She knew that only a day or so passed by, but it felt so much longer.

She was also thinking ahead, knowing from now on, she would be struggling with some of the cases presented to her - now that she knew what emotions would be coursing through their bodies as they were being held captured, not knowing what was going to happen.

She hated the emotions, especially the helplessness to help the others and herself.

"Sorry."

Both Hotch and Emily knew that the word was being used for everything, not just the fact that he had arrived too late to keep them from getting hurt, but also because he sent them out, thinking it was a simple case. Because he wasn't there.

"I am fine, you know." Emily told him, her glance never wandering from Hotch's eyes. "We are all fine. We just need to heal. Just give us time."

Hotch nodded, unable to have his own input. He gave the room a quick look, his eyes skipping the hanging rope and the blood on the floor. He frowned, looking at the far end wall.

"What happened there?"

"Reid. I don't know how he does it to be exact. He is really a genius. He somehow got these bracelet devices off of Morgan and JJ's wrists using whatever he could find in the room and just threw it as far as he could."

Hotch felt pride deep within his stomach. He knew that the younger man was capable of great acts of heroism. It was just a shame that it took this situation for Reid to come out of his shell, to become the hero that he always was.

"Good job, guys." He called out. It may have been too early for that phrase, but he didn't know what else to say in this situation.

However, it seemed to have done the trick as the team slightly chuckled, some of the sparkles returning to their eyes. They, too, did not know what else to reply with.

In the background, the sirens were getting closer. Standing up to help them find their way, Hotch looked over at his team. Beaten, worn out, but alive.

No other teams were better. His was the best of the best and thankfully, they were fine. They would get by just fine. After all, they had each other. There might be nightmares, terrors and nerves haunting their bodies and minds, but there would be words, hugs, and more importantly, love to help them through.

Looking at them, Hotch decided that if there was one word to describe his team, he would choose 'Perfection'.

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_Please Review!  
Let me know what you think, your views are valuable to me - let me know why it is that you love/like/dislike/hate this story and it would totally make my day as well as giving me courage to carry on with my writing.  
At the moment, I am feeling a little discouraged as I only had very few reviews - this is your last chance! _

_And yes, I know the ending is slightly rushed but that is only because otherwise, this story will be here to stay for another 20 chapters.  
As my ideas muse left me for a long holiday, I am lost so if you want a story to be written, give me a shout and I will give it a go :) _


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